Anne C. Carter Global Health Fellowship

Olivia Hanson

Olivia Hanson is a second-year medical student at the Spencer Fox Eccles School of Medicine at the University of Utah. She earned her bachelor’s degree from the University of Utah, where she studied biology with additional training in global health and clinical research.

Olivia was first introduced to global health as a college freshman through a global health course. That same year, she began working on an NIH-funded study in Tanzania examining HIV-related stigma among pregnant and postpartum women. This experience sparked a lasting interest in understanding and addressing stigmatizing conditions through patient-centered and culturally responsive research. During college, Olivia studied abroad in Ghana, focusing on rural health systems and community health worker programs. Following her graduation, she worked as a research analyst at the University of Utah, contributing to NIH-funded global health projects in Bangladesh and Mali focused on antibiotic stewardship and pediatric diarrheal disease. During this time, she also worked to support a study on cancer-related stigma in Malawi.

Since beginning medical school, Olivia has continued to pursue global health through both research and leadership. She leads her medical school’s student global health initiative and is actively involved in international research. As a medical student, she has conducted fieldwork on colorectal cancer screening implementation in Ghana, supported research on neonatal hypothermia prevention in rural Nepal, and developed pediatric drowning prevention interventions in Costa Rica.

In addition to her international work, Olivia is deeply engaged in addressing health inequities in her home community. In Utah, she works closely with Salt Lake City’s unhoused population through street medicine initiatives and conducts research on stigma related to substance use disorder, including among pregnant and postpartum individuals. Across all of her work, Olivia is committed to developing sustainable, community-driven interventions that strengthen care in low-resource settings. Her career goal is to practice as an obstetrician–gynecologist dedicated to research, capacity building, and ethical global health partnerships, with a focus on improving maternal and newborn health worldwide.

 In her free time, Olivia enjoys traveling, running, camping, and swimming.

Madalyn Fernbach

Madalyn Fernbach is a medical student at the Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine – University Park Regional Campus with interests in global health, health equity, and healthcare policy. Prior to medical school, she was a Fulbright Scholar for two years at the Medical University of Łódź, Poland, where she taught medical English, led seminars on U.S. healthcare and medical education, and helped coordinate the distribution of medical supplies to humanitarian organizations during war in Ukraine. At that time, she also founded, the Women in STEM Poland Short Essay Contest, an international initiative she has continued to lead for the past five years.

Her global health work includes training and research through the Penn State Global Health Scholars Program in Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, AI and healthcare delivery research with the University of São Paulo in Brazil, and health behavior research in collaboration with Aix-Marseille School of Economics in France. She also serves as a senior volunteer and research coordinator with SameYou, a London-based nonprofit supporting young brain injury survivors and collaborates with the World Stroke Organization’s Gender Equity & Diversity (GENESIS) Committee.

During medical school, Madalyn has remained closely involved in community medicine, advocacy, and education. Nationally, she serves as the medical student board member of the Society of Teachers of Family Medicine’s Global Health Education Collective. At the state level, she is involved with the Pennsylvania Medical Society and Centre County Medical Society, serves with the Pennsylvania Chapter of the American College of Physicians, and is a student representative of Pennsylvania’s State Health Improvement Plan (SHIP). At Penn State, she works with the LionMobile Clinic, providing preventive screenings and outreach through mobile medicine programs supporting rural and underserved communities. She also volunteers as an Undergraduate National Fellowships Advisor and was appointed liaison for international visitors at the College of Medicine’s regional campus. She is president of the American Medical Women’s Association at Penn State’s Regional Campus, where she helps develop community programs focused on women in medicine and mentorship. Madalyn is excited to participate in the Anne C. Carter Global Health Fellowship, which aligns closely with her goal of pursuing a career that combines clinical medicine in primary care with healthcare policy and advocacy to expand access to quality, and equitable care for underserved populations in the United States and around the world.

Brianna Watson

Brianna Watson is a medical student at the Howard University College of Medicine with a strong interest in global health, environmental health, and health policy. She has held multiple policy fellowships on Capitol Hill, including roles with the Congressional Black Caucus and the Women’s Congressional Policy Institute, where she worked in the offices of U.S. Representatives Robin Kelly (IL-2) and Terri Sewell (AL-7) on issues spanning health equity, maternal health, and access to care.

Ms. Watson earned dual undergraduate degrees in sociology and molecular environmental biology from the University of California, Berkeley, where she developed a foundation in the social and biological determinants of health. She later pursued a master’s degree in biomedical engineering at Cornell University, focusing her thesis on muscle stem cell regeneration and strengthening her interest in translational research across diverse populations.

Her global and population health interests are reflected in her research training and funding record, having received multiple competitive research grants and fellowships, including support through the Hematology Inclusion Pathway (HIP) and the Medical Student Scholars for Health Equity in Myeloma Program. She also completed a CDC-funded Ferguson RISE Fellowship at Johns Hopkins University, where she examined the intersection of HIV, chronic lead exposure, and liver disease within the ALIVE cohort. Together, these experiences have reinforced her commitment to studying environmental exposures and structural drivers of disease that disproportionately affect marginalized communities in both the United States and international settings.

Ultimately, Ms. Watson aspires to work at the intersection of clinical medicine, global health research, and policy to advance equitable healthcare systems and improve health outcomes for underserved populations worldwide.

Amina Nasari

Amina Nasari is a medical student at the CUNY School of Medicine with a strong interest in global health, women’s health equity, and community-engaged care. As the daughter of Afghan immigrants, her perspective on health has been shaped by firsthand exposure to cultural, political, and structural barriers that influence access to care, particularly for women in under-resourced settings. Her global health work spans advocacy and education. She has partnered with AMWA and Saving Mothers on maternal health initiatives, including assembling birth kits for women in regions with high maternal mortality. She has also served as a health educator for elementary school students in underserved communities, focusing on nutrition and preventive health. Following the Taliban’s return to power in Afghanistan, Amina organized educational programming addressing the collapse of the healthcare system and later published an article in JCO Global Oncology examining barriers to cancer care for Afghan women. Amina’s commitment to health equity is also reflected in her work within Muslim immigrant communities in the United States. She collaborated with her local mosque to organize women’s health workshops and developed bilingual educational materials to address gaps in preventive care knowledge, including cervical and breast cancer screening. Through these initiatives, she sought to create culturally responsive spaces that empowered women to engage more confidently with their health. As an AMWA Anne C. Carter Global Health Fellow, Amina hopes to further develop skills in designing community-driven and culturally grounded health initiatives, particularly in politically unstable or resource-limited settings. She aspires to a career as a physician who integrates clinical care, global health advocacy, and systems-level thinking to expand access to care for women worldwide.

Elena Montgomery

Elena Montgomery is a first-year medical student at the Kaiser Permanente Bernard J. Tyson School of Medicine with a background in sociology and public health. She graduated from Princeton University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology and a certificate in Global Health and Health Policy. She later earned a Master of Public Health in Sociomedical Sciences with a certificate in Global Health from the Columbia University Joseph L. Mailman School of Public Health. Her training has centered on the social determinants of health and the structural factors that shape access to care.

Elena has worked in multiple international contexts, including supporting orthopedic training programs in Vietnam and Nepal, working in a maternal and child health clinic in Belize, improving non-surgical ear health care among Aboriginal communities in Australia, and researching HIV-related orphanhood and vulnerability in fishing communities in Uganda. Across these experiences, she has prioritized building relationships with community members and learning from local clinical and public health leaders.

Through coursework and field experiences in global health, Elena has developed a strong interest in the ethical and systems-level challenges that influence healthcare delivery across countries, reinforcing her commitment to community-led and culturally humble approaches. She is currently working on projects that examine barriers to musculoskeletal care and identify practical strategies to strengthen care delivery, with a particular focus on sub-Saharan Africa. She currently plans to pursue a career in orthopedic surgery and hopes to continue advancing equity-oriented research and practice in the United States and abroad.

Emily Evangelista

USF Morsani College of Medicine

Emily Evangelista (she/her) is a medical student in the class of 2025 at USF Morsani College of Medicine in Tampa, FL. Emily graduated with her B.S. in Biology and M.S. in Biotechnology and Innovation at Northeastern University in Boston, Massachusetts. During her time in Boston, Emily was a co-op student and then research assistant at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard’s Center for Mendelian Genomics as a part of the Rare Genomes Project, focusing on structural variant analysis in pediatric rare diseases. In this position, Emily contributed structural variant analysis and curation to a variety of projects, contributed to the GnomAD structural variant database, innovation in the field of structural variant analysis, and protocol development in CNV curation. Currently Emily serves as the president of the ENT interest group, wellness chair of the class of 2025, president-elect of the medical student wellness council, president of the women in surgery (WIS) chapter at USF, and global surgery student alliance (GSSA) board member. Emily is an active member of her medical school’s AMWA chapter, serving as a 1-on-1 mentor for undergraduate students at USF.

Last year, Emily chose to pursue a focus in Health Disparities as her scholarly concentration throughout medical school. Mixing this passion with her interest in ENT and global health, Emily spent the past summer in Durban, South Africa fully funded by a research grant from the Global Emerging Diseases Institute and RISE Summer Scholarly Experience Award from USF. During this experience Emily was aiding colleagues at the University of KwaZulu-Natal researching the health disparities contributing to the high burden of Juvenile onset Recurrent Respiratory Papillomatosis (JoRRP) in the region. This experience sparked a passion for global surgery and passionate, collaborative, sustainable medical outreach. Other areas of interest Emily wishes to build into her global health pursuits include the implementation of AI and other medical innovations equitably and accessibly throughout the globe. During her master’s degree, Emily took courses on leadership and innovation that guided her adventures in this capacity and fueled her desires to ensure global equity in these arenas typically reserved for high income patients. Emily is also a staff writer for The Auricle, a student run otolaryngology newsletter aiming to make academic papers more accessible to those students interested in the field of ENT. Emily has continuously exercised her passion for academic writing through the club she founded at Northeastern – The Health & Science Journal Club, her contribution to The Auricle, and her routine participation in research, and through guest-writing for the USF medical school journal – The Pulse. This passion stems from Emily’s love for remaining on the cutting edge, having the ability to best help her patients, and consistently improve the healthcare system.

Emily’s personal hobbies include Pilates, cooking, her Great-Dane Bandit, and spending time outdoors with her friends and family.

Chelsea Tweneboah

St. George’s University School of Medicine

Chelsea Amo-Tweneboah (she/her) is currently a medical student at the St. George’s
University School of Medicine of the class of 2023. Chelsea grew up in Queens, New York
and later moved to Long Island when she was 12. She attended Wesleyan University in
Middletown, CT where she obtained her Bachelor of Arts in Chemistry. After college she
went on to work at the St. Francis Heart Hospital where she worked on clinical trials in the
field of Cardiology. Throughout her undergraduate years Chelsea’s interest in working with
marginalized communities especially abroad led her to places such as Ghana, Brazil, and the
Dominican Republic. In Ghana, she had the internship with the Cape Coast Teaching
Hospital as a pre-medical intern and study the various health ailments Ghanaian citizens often faced. In Brazil, she had the unique opportunity to work with AIESEC in a community in the town of Riberaõ Preto where she was able to educate the community in the areas of health, English, technology and physical education.  Chelsea also worked in an orphanage in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic working to understand and address the health needs of the children there.

Chelsea’s interest in global health stemmed from traveling to Ghana every summer with her family and witnessing the health needs of Ghanaians. Having these experiences in addition to having an interest in medicine, she sought to find ways of addressing the health needs of various communities. Her travels further solidified her passion  for Global Health and her realization of its impact in the future of healthcare. During medical school Chelsea has had the opportunity to work with communities in Granada, working  in clinics such as the Diabetes Clinic and various health related projects geared towards the citizens of Granada. Additionally, Chelsea served as an SNMA Global Health Fellow which allowed her to further research and dissect the health policies and practices of Brazil

Chelsea’s fascination with the field of Cardiology has influenced her desire to become an internist and eventually an Interventional Cardiologist. She hopes with a specialization in Cardiology that she will be able to address the cardiovascular needs of marginalized communities. She is a member of the CardioNerds, which is a group of cardiologists and those intending to go into Cardiology that work t democratize cardiovascular education. She is also a member of the American College of Cardiology as well as the Association of Black Cardiologists. In the meantime she hopes to continue to engage in projects that will allow her to analyze the impact of health in different environments both in the United States and other countries. Her current immediate plans she is working on is working with communities and physicians in Ghana and Kenya. Chelsea also plans on pursuing her Masters In Public Health with the intention of further developing her skill set and gaining the opportunity to network with other like-minded individuals.

In her free time she loves to read realistic fiction novels, explore different dog parks with her dog, Cooper. and eating anything that has arugula in it.

Alexis Domeracki

Duke University School of Medicine

Alexis Domeracki (she/her) is a fourth-year medical student at Duke University School of Medicine currently pursuing an additional year of research. She received her bachelor’s degree from Miami University where she studied biology, Spanish, and neuroscience. After college, she completed a Master of Biomedical Sciences degree at Duke where she served on the student health insurance advisory council, sparking her interest in health policy. Her graduate research was centered upon referral patterns within the Ugandan public health system.

Following graduate school, Alexis worked in clinical neuropsychiatry. Since starting medical school, she has been involved in teaching, as well as leadership within student government, the LGBTQ+ affinity group, narrative medicine, and the global health interest group. She further expanded upon her leadership training as a Feagin Leadership Scholar where she supported the creation of a leadership curriculum for local underrepresented youth in STEM. As a Duke Global Policy Program Fellow, Alexis interned with UNAIDS (The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS) on the Community and Youth Engagement Team to support the burgeoning Monkeypox response and compile global community-led harm reduction strategies. To further support LGBTQ+ health equity, Alexis is currently working to create a resource to educate long-term care facilities on best practices for care and inclusion of elderly LGBTQ+ residents. With her additional research year, she will continue her global health work by investigating causes of acute febrile illness in Western Nicaragua in association with climate change.

Alexis foresees a career at the intersection of primary care for underserved populations, global health, and advocacy with a focus on environmental justice, planetary health, and LGBTQ+ health. Outside of medical school she enjoys biking, playing guitar, writing, camping, and discovering new craft beers.

Syeda Akila Ally

University of Illinois College of Medicine

Syeda Akila Ally (she/her) is a medical student at the University of Illinois College of Medicine in Chicago, IL, class of 2024. Akila grew up in Dhaka, Bangladesh, and moved to the U.S. to attend college on a full-tuition scholarship. After graduating from the University of Chicago with a B.A. in Biological Sciences in 2016, she pursued a career in public health developing equity-oriented solutions for patients experiencing homelessness and food insecurity. Currently, she is pursuing NIDDK-funded research training investigating the effect of nutrition on nephropathy risk in patients with sickle cell disease. She serves as the Treasurer of the national AMWA medical student executive board, and the Diversity Vice-President of the national Asian Pacific American Medical Students Association (APAMSA). She is also a leader in her medical school’s Student Wellness and Resilience Committee and the University Medical Student Council.  

Growing up in Bangladesh, Akila’s interest in global health developed as a high schooler in Dhaka implementing service projects at her school. After immigrating to Chicago, during her undergraduate career, she mentored adolescents with sickle cell disease and conducted research on breast cancer screening disparities among immigrant women. Concurrently, she remained connected to women’s mentorship and empowerment programs in Bangladesh. These experiences provided her with an understanding of glocal health – an appreciation of health inequities that spanned countries, and the training to tap into local community resources to devise solutions. She is a passionate advocate for global health justice, and for transformative medical education training that develops compassionate, culturally sensitive physicians who partner with their patients.

During medical school at UICOM, Akila was selected for the Global Medicine (GMED) scholarly development track and the Craig Research Fellowship. Through GMED, she has committed time to learn about social, environmental, political, and economic issues that contribute to world health disparities. Her projects have included incorporating anti-colonial training into the GMED curriculum, analyzing HIV-antiretroviral adherence in South-East Asia during the covid-19 pandemic, and leading a site visit to understand women’s health needs at a refugee camp in Bangladesh. Akila is keen on pursuing a long-term career in academic internal medicine investigating factors that contribute to global health inequity, particularly for marginalized and immigrant patients, and implementing interventions to combat that. She is humbled to be training to become one of the first female physicians in her family and enjoys serving as a mentor to students, especially those who are first-generation, socioeconomically disadvantaged, and immigrants. In her free time, Akila loves exploring independent bookstores, reading fiction, and listening to music, particularly Bengali classics. 

Aliah Fonteh

Meharry Medical College

Aliah Fonteh (she/her) is a medical student at Meharry Medical College in Nashville, TN class of 2023. Her hometown is Quartz Hill, CA but she graduated with her B.S. in Biomedical Sciences with a minor in Global Studies from Liberty University. After graduation, she pursued her M.S. in Biomedical Sciences at Liberty University and worked as a Graduate Student Assistant on a full-tuition scholarship before starting medical school. Currently, she serves as the President of the Henry W. Foster OB/GYN Interest Group and the Captain of Pretty Girls Sweat-Meharry Medical College Chapter. Since beginning medical school, she has committed time to learning more about quality care in underserved communities as an Area Health Education Center Scholar (AHEC), Certificate for Health Policy candidate, and as a volunteer in the Nashville community. She is co-founder of a mentorship and education initiative targeting pre-medical students entitled “Med2MD”.

As a first-generation Cameroonian American, her passion for global health equity has been engrained through the observable health disparities faced in both countries, as well as personal encounters of loved ones dying from preventable diseases in Cameroon, West Africa. Her initial drive towards global women’s health was developed due to her own personal story of her mother’s complications while pregnant with her. However, she is passionate about global women’s health also due to her observation of loved ones struggles with uterine fibroids, the observable burden of maternal mortality in BIPOC, and her adamant belief that she must join the advocacy and service efforts to reduce healthcare disparities in obstetrics & gynecological issues worldwide. Her vision for her future career as an OB/GYN is to join the fight as an advocate for quality, compassionate, culturally sensitive, and efficient care particularly amongst vulnerable populations around the world. 

As a budding researcher, her global health interests include reproductive infectious disease and breastfeeding education amongst minority communities. She is being supported by Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center’s HIV Vaccine Trials Network (HVTN) to work on a project on HIV/AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa as a Research and Mentorship Program (RAMP) Scholar. Additionally, throughout medical school she continues to find opportunities to educate herself about global health issues through the following extracurricular activities: SNMA’s Global Health Fellowship Program and AMSA Global Health Scholars Program.  She is not a stranger to using her platform to educate others about global health issues. As an undergraduate, she presented about placental malaria and schistomiasis transmission in Cameroon to her colleagues in a Parasitology course, in her M.S. program she led as Director of History and Cultural Affairs of the Graduate Biomedical Club, and she currently is a member of the Global Surgery Student Alliance (GSSA). Her personal hobbies revolve around growth in her faith, trying new keto-friendly foods, exploring various African print-fashion, and challenging herself and others in the area of health and fitness.

Briana Krewson

Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine

Briana Krewson (she/her) is a third-year medical student at Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine in Philadelphia, PA. She graduated from Franklin & Marshall College in 2017 with a BA in Neuroscience.  After college, she spent a year abroad teaching English as a Fulbright Scholar in Rzeszow, Poland, which sparked her interest in global health and international education. Briana proceeded to earn her Masters in Public Health at Dartmouth College in 2019, where she served as a Stefansson Fellow, working for the Institute for Circumpolar Health Research in subarctic Canada. 

During medical school, Briana has focused her efforts on community-based clinical work, including serving as a Director for PCOM’s student run-clinic, called PCOM HEARTS. She also served on her school’s AMWA chapter as Community Service and Engagement Director, where she organized their Girl Talk Program that supported female youth through empowerment workshops. Briana is also a co-founder of the organization Medical Students for Masks, which grassroots fundraised $80,000 for personal protective equipment (PPE) for over fifty Philadelphia healthcare organizations during the initial outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. Briana currently serves as a AHEC rural health scholar in Pennsylvania, where she participates in educational activities about rural and underserved healthcare needs.

Briana is passionate about patient-centered care, preventative medicine, healthcare access, and health inequities. Although she has not yet decided what field of medicine she wants to pursue, Briana enjoys procedural medicine, critical care, and women’s health. She hopes to continue her work in global medicine as a physician, providing hands-on care and research skills to underserved communities. Briana’s aim as a doctor is to be an empathetic leader, advocating for human rights and healthcare for diverse patient populations, always prioritizing compassion in her treatment of patients. 

In her free time, she enjoys hiking with her dog, running outdoors, and caring for her vegetable garden!

Jade Tso

University of California, Davis School of Medicine

Jade Tso is a first-year medical student at the University of California, Davis School of Medicine where she is a part of the Academic Research Careers for Medical Doctors (ARC-MD) honors pathway. Growing up in New York and northern California, Jade’s interest in global health began in high school when she conducted a research project at UC Davis related to interventions for vitamin A deficiency. During her undergraduate career at Duke University, she began a community-based nutrition project in Argentina, conducted research on mosquito-borne diseases in Costa Rica, and worked on research on delivery models for anticoagulants in sub-Saharan Africa at Harvard Medical School. She spent 6 years organizing with Partners in Health Engage, the grassroots advocacy arm of Partners in Health, and served on the National Steering Committee from 2018 to 2021. Jade graduated with distinction from Duke University in 2019 with a BS in Biology and minors in Global Health and Chemistry. 

She then worked at Advance Access & Delivery, a global health nonprofit, as the Zero Tuberculosis Initiative’s Data for Action Fellow and then as Program Manager. She acted as a consultant for the Global Fund Tuberculosis Program in the Republic of Georgia and conducted a total cost analysis of tuberculosis programs in Lima, Peru. Additionally, her team worked on COVID-19 prevention projects in Oklahoma City, including testing and mobile clinics for people experiencing homelessness, in collaboration with local clinics, shelters, and public health authorities. 

Jade hopes to use her voice and platform as a future physician to frame poverty as a global health crisis and to advocate for policy changes that build a more equitable system for all, amplifying the voices of those typically left behind. She plans to split her time between clinical practice and an implementation-science research agenda focused on optimizing diagnostic algorithms, linkage to care, and treatment delivery models to improve outcomes for diseases that disproportionately affect the world’s poorest.

Nora Newcomb

University of South Florida Morsani College of Medicine

Nora Newcomb (she/her) is a first-year medical student at the University of South Florida Morsani College of Medicine (USF MCOM), where she is in the SELECT leadership program. Most recently from Montgomery, AL, Nora graduated from Oberlin College in 2019 with a BA in Neuroscience and a minor in Chemistry. Her interest in global health began during college, when she took a comparative health systems course during her semester abroad. Nora further developed her interest in global health through a senior capstone project on cerebral malaria.

In medical school, Nora has become very involved in disability advocacy. As a disabled and chronically ill person herself, Nora is very passionate about disability rights and representation. Currently, most of her work centers around the inclusion of disabled individuals in medicine and pushing for disability curricula in medical education. Nora currently serves as the Director of Advocacy and Education for Medical Students with Disability and Chronic Illness (MSDCI) National. She is also the founder of the MCOM Disability Coalition, which is a chapter of MSDCI. The MCOM Disability Coalition is a student group that serves to support disabled and chronically ill medical students at USF and to present educational programming on disability to the general student body. Additionally, Nora is involved in developing public health education programs for K-12 students in her role as the Health Education Coordinator for USF’s Public Health Interest Group.

Disability is a global health issue. According to the WHO, 15% of the world’s population lives with a disability. Nora is very excited to continue to grow her interests in and develop research projects around disability through the framework of global health.

Alexis Strahan

Mercer University School of Medicine

Alexis Strahan is a second-year medical student at Mercer University School of Medicine in Savannah, GA. She grew up in Memphis, Tennessee, and graduated summa cum laude from Mississippi State University with a degree in Kinesiology. She then completed a master’s in nursing science on a full academic scholarship from Vanderbilt University, becoming a board-certified family nurse practitioner. She utilized her skills as a family nurse practitioner serving the uninsured and underinsured both at her local federally qualified health center and internationally alongside many NGOs in the western and eastern provinces of Uganda. She is passionate about well-rounded, patient-centered care with an emphasis on preventative medicine and sustainable global health initiatives.

She returned to complete medical school at Mercer University School of Medicine where she is pursuing a career dedicated to bringing medical care to those with limited access. She is the Distinction in Service to the Community representative, the president of the Student Ambassador program, co-founder of a student organization for the advancement of student research and service, and vice president of the ethics interest group. She has also worked closely with the homeless community in her area, co-establishing the school’s first collaborative “Street Medicine” student clinic in concert with local residency programs, community non-profits, and homeless authority organizations.

During her time in medical school, she hopes to continue to be a student of and advocate for global health education and optimizing care for all. She wishes to investigate more into improvements in systems, diagnosis, and treatment of diseases commonly affecting medically underserved populations, particularly infectious and neglected tropical skin diseases.

Laura Hurley

Rush Medical College

A South Dakota native, Laura Hurley first formally engaged in global health-related activities while studying Biology, Mathematics and Spanish at Northwestern College in Iowa. After participating in a Medical/Public Health Brigade in Nicaragua, she subsequently returned as a Global Health Intern to support community-led efforts in identifying the assets and needs of the residents for future public health interventions. The following summer Laura returned to South Dakota as SD Department of Public Health intern, allowing her to study and address key issues in maternal/child health and rural health with both state and tribal authorities. During her final year of undergraduate studies, Laura worked as Health Intern at Cenit Health in Ecuador, where she supported data collection and analysis of metrics to assess students’ nutritional status. Currently, Laura is pursuing her MPH from Northwestern University before completing her final year of medical school at Rush Medical College in Chicago, IL. At Rush, she served as a member of the Leadership Team for Rush Students for Global Health and is a member of the Family Medicine Leadership Program. She also serves as Illinois Academy of Family Physicians Health Equity Extern and Student President. Passionate about behavioral and maternal/child health, Laura aspires to work as a Family Medicine physician in a community-based clinic, providing culturally competent care for women, children and families. Her personal hobbies include hiking and camping, cooking, and growing her indoor garden.

Leah Sarah Peer

Saint James School of Medicine

Leah Sarah Peer is a medical student at Saint James School of Medicine in Chicago, Illinois class of 2022. Originally from Montreal, Quebec, she graduated from Concordia University in 2018 with a Bachelor of Science, Specialization in Biology, and a Minor in Human Rights. During her undergrad, she volunteered with many community initiatives traveling to Indigenous & rural areas of Quebec to educate and instill a passion for science within children.  Through her interactions with vulnerable populations in Canada, Costa Rica, South Africa, and Anguilla, Leah was inspired to embark on her own advocacy journey. Mingling her passion for medicine with her human rights endeavors she aspires to serve humanity. She is also involved with many local and global humanitarian projects in the fields of global health, social justice and the provision of medical care for underserved communities across the world. Her aim is to become a diverse, committed and compassionate leader in public service as a global health change-maker, human rights advocate and physician in caring for life.

Zara Khan

UT Southwestern Medical School

Zara Khan (she/her) is a first-year medical student at UT Southwestern Medical School. Originally from Houston, Texas, she graduated from Rice University in 2017 with a BA in Cognitive Sciences and minor in Poverty, Justice, and Human Capabilities. Her interest in global health, and specifically global sexual and reproductive health (SRH), began with her involvement in a project studying obstetric fistula in rural Malawi. She gained additional experience at the Division of Birth Defects and Infant Disorders of the CDC, the Baylor Teen Health Clinic, Ibis Reproductive Health, and Emory University, where she received her MPH in 2019. Her current research interests include adolescent SRH, abortion, gender-based violence, and women’s and girls’ empowerment. Zara aspires to a career in global health combining clinical care and research in the service of communities challenged by health inequities and healthcare injustice.

Amira Nafiseh

Indiana University School of Medicine

Amira Nafiseh is from Fishers, Indiana and graduated from IUPUI in 2019 with BS degrees in Biology and Medical Humanities and Health Studies. She served as vice president and president of the Medical Humanities Student Interest Group and organized the First and Second Annual Midwest Medical Humanities Conferences in Indianapolis. This first of its kind event brought undergraduate students around the United States together to present their scholarly work and research focused on health and humanities. As a leader through the IUPUI Sam H. Jones Community Service Scholarship Program, Amira interned at AMPATH in the IU Center for Global Health, planned campus-wide days of service, and worked on grants to fund education and occupational workshops for communities around Indianapolis. Additionally, she has led and participated in service trips to Nicaragua, Panama, New Orleans, and St. Louis.

Amira is first-year medical student at Indiana University School of Medicine and plans to pursue a pediatric subspecialty, possibly oncology or critical care. In addition to patient care, she hopes to continue her involvement in public health and clinical research and assist in developing sustainable global health efforts.

Kathryn Hockensmith

Chicago College of Osteopathic Medicine at Midwestern University

Katie Hockensmith is a current third year osteopathic medical student at Chicago College of Osteopathic Medicine at Midwestern University. She was raised in Southwest Missouri where she graduated Summa Cum Laude from Drury University with a double major in Biology and Chemistry. Her interest in global health stems from her commitment to service, undoubtedly fostered growing up in a family with more than 150 years of service dedicated to healthcare. This interest was reaffirmed over 13 years of service
to underserved communities, including during her two years spent providing osteopathic treatments to non-insured patients with musculoskeletal pain at a local student run clinic in Chicago.

Katie has an impressive record of student leadership and healthcare advocacy. Aligned with her interest in women’s health, Katie serves as student representative on the National Student Section of ACOOG and works to promote knowledge and excitement for a career in women’s health on her campus. Additionally, she is engaged in policy making and advocacy events through Student Government and the American Osteopathic Association with emphasis placed on wellness and speaking out on the stigma surrounding physician and medical student suicide. In effort to proactively prevent suicide, she established the first Wellness Committee on her campus and is currently heading an initiative to implement campus-wide peer-to-peer suicide prevention training. As a physician Katie aspires to incorporate policy making into clinical practice to ensure all women have access to high-quality health care, regionally and abroad.

Leah Genn

Florida State University College of Medicine

Leah Genn grew up in Sarasota, Florida and graduated from Florida State University in 2016 with a Bachelor of Science in exercise physiology. She served as vice president and president of the Gamma Eta Chapter of Phi Sigma Pi National Honor Fraternity and was an active member of the Honors Medical Scholars Society, participating in service-learning trips to Ruskin, Florida, and Los Cedros, Nicaragua. Following graduation, Leah joined the Peace Corps and served for two years in Togo, West Africa, as a community health and malaria prevention volunteer. She helped build the capacity of community health workers to conduct behavior change negotiation and spearheaded a Respectful Maternity Care initiative at district-level health departments.

She is currently a second-year medical student at the FSU College of Medicine and served as Vice President of her local AMWA chapter. Leah hopes to pursue a career in maternal health, with a focus on health disparities and infectious diseases.

Allison Doyle

Georgetown University School of Medicine

Allison Doyle is a third-year medical student at Georgetown University School of Medicine in Washington, D.C. She is originally from Atlanta, Georgia and graduated from the University of Georgia with a BS in Biology and an MPH with a concentration in health policy and management and graduate certificate in global health.  She completed her MPH practicum at the Division of Global HIV/AIDS at CDC in Atlanta, focusing on developing strategies to scale up HIV testing and treatment in low-resource communities worldwide. At Georgetown, she is part of the Population Health Track Scholars program and is passionate about addressing disparities in access to health care in D.C. and globally.

Kelechi Abarikwu

University of Arizona School of Medicine-Tucson

Kelechi Abarikwu is a first generation Nigerian American and second year medical student at the University of Arizona-Tucson. She currently serves as the Corporate Affairs Officer for the Region 1 Student National Medical Association and has helped to raise close to $20,000 for the Regional Minority Medical Networking Conference this year. She is the chairperson for the African American Medical Student Association (AAMSA), a club started on campus only two years ago and is still flourishing today. Through the AAMSA, she has helped organize blood pressure and blood sugar clinics for at risk populations and has solidified their undergraduate mentorship program. Kelechi understands the need for physicians and medical resources abroad. She is currently a Global Health Distinction Track candidate at the college of medicine and has participated in many medical mission trips to her home country of Nigeria, Uganda, and Panama. She was elected as Co-Chairperson of the Student Diversity Advisory Committee and in this role she helped to expand on previous efforts to foster a more inclusive community at the UACOM – Tucson through implementing adequate diversity education to students and faculty and raising awareness of diverse groups on campus. After she completes her medical education, Kelechi plans to pursue a career in Dermatology and become one of the few women of color practicing the specialty.

Sukaina Alikhan

American University of Antigua College of Medicine

Sukaina Alikhan is a third year medical student at American University of Antigua College of Medicine, currently doing her rotations in New York. She graduated from Rutgers University in 2014 with a double major in Public Health and Biological Sciences after which she pursued  one-year Global Citizen Internship at the U.S. Fund for UNICEF. Sukaina has volunteered in  four countries and is passionate about learning the disparities in access to healthcare in developing countries and how the effects of culture, religion, and politics can ultimately treat a disease. Her aim is to become a diverse, committed and global-minded individual with effective leadership in public service and have the ability to increase the wellness of global community through health promotion and disease prevention.

Caroline Hensley

University of Cincinnati College of Medicine

Caroline Hensley is currently completing her MD at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine. She earner her Bachelor of Science in Biology, Bachelor of Arts in Spanish, and Masters of Public Health with a concentration in Health Services Management from the University of Cincinnati. Prior to beginning medical school, Caroline worked at a local Federally-Qualified Health Center and cofounded the Let’s Change Our City initiative in Cincinnati. Her research interests include social determinants of health, interdisciplinary healthcare teams, minority health, and health equity. She is committed to finding creative and efficient ways to better serve the healthcare and social needs of individuals experiencing poverty. 

Aanika Balaji

Johns Hopkins University

Aanika Balaji is a first-year medical student at Johns Hopkins University. She is originally from Mesa, Arizona. She graduated from the University of Arizona with a B.S. degree in Microbiology and a minor in intercultural studies. During undergrad, Aanika spent a lot of time researching: at UA she worked for four years in a breast cancer research lab and three months working in Gothenburg, Sweden studying cystic fibrosis. Tucson was a large refugee city, Aanika worked with several refugee communities with the Pima County Public Health Department. She also went to Honduras to help with a community clinic!

In medial school Aanika is involved with Community Adolescent Sex Education (CASE), which is a club that focuses on teaching sex ed to middle school kids in Baltimore. She also works with nursing and pharmacy students in a n interprofessional group to make home visits to an elderly patient. She is involved with her local AMWA chapter.

In the future, Aanika hopes to become an oncologist and definitely wants to work abroad! Follow Aanika on her personal blog, Travelling Cactus.

Emily Trautner

Emory University

Emily Trautner is a rising third-year medical student at Emory University. She grew up in the Bay Area in California and completed her undergraduate degree in Economics with a minor in African American Studies at Princeton University. Outside of academics, she swam for Princeton University Collegiate Swimming and Diving Team in division 1 athletics. She also completed a summer internship with The Global Fund in Geneva, Switzerland, stimulating her growing interest in global health.

After completing her undergraduate education, she lived in Kampala, Uganda and worked for Plan International as a Technical Writer through the Princeton in Africa Fellowship for two years. While living in Kampala, she learned about community development, health, and many of the cultures within Uganda. Her work starting up a large USAID public health project inspired her to return to school to complete a post-baccalaureate and apply to medical school. From 2014-2015 she worked as the Kenya Research and Training Coordinator for University of San Francisco Center for Aids Research in Kisumu, Kenya where she served as a liaison for medical students and residents working in a local HIV care clinic and organized an international research conference.

Her work in East Africa further fueled a passion for working with underserved populations, which she continues in Atlanta through her position as class Service Chair and organizing class-wide volunteer events. She also works as a member of the speakers bureau for Jerusalem House, a non-profit which provides long-term housing to formerly homeless or low income families affected by HIV. Emily currently pursues her global health interests by serving on the board of the Emory chapter of Universities Allied for Essential Medicines and as the Chair of the Community Outreach and Engagement Committee for the Student Advisory Committee for the Global Health Institute.

Emily plans to work to improve health justice and equity – both in the US and internationally – throughout her career in public health and medicine.

Srutika Sabu

Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine, Middletown

Srutika Sabu is a third-year medical student at Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine in Middletown, NY. She is a graduate of Rutgers University, New Brunswick where she studied Biotechnology and Women and Gender studies.  She is especially interested in applying transnational feminism to create sustainable approaches to development and public health. Her past projects bridge together art and activism. During her time as an Institute for Women’s Leadership Scholar, she designed a series of art workshops in which young women could abstractly and critically reflect on the importance of reproductive and sexual healthcare. One of the goals of this project was to create an understanding of this issue on both the domestic and the global stage. Continuing the theme of making local connections to global health issues, she has also worked on research exploring how South Asian American women’s attitudes to reproductive and sexual health care differed from their first generation immigrant parents. As an artist, her artwork and interviews have been published in various art journals and South Asian activist media. She also uses her artwork to not only convey themes of global health and economic development but also fundraise and bring awareness to grassroots organizations.

During her medical school experience, she was the founding president of the Social Justice and Public Health Collaborative, an organization whose mission is to educate peers about the intersections of humanities and medicine. She organized various interdisciplinary panels covering topics such as mental health and criminal justice, food deserts, economic barriers to health and Native American health care, especially due to the consequences of environmental damage.

In her career as a physician, Srutika hopes to practice primary care in underserved communities while continuing to create and collaborate on public health initiatives towards accessible and equitable health solutions. She hopes the fellowship will be a space to further develop and apply her interdisciplinary approach to both local and global health inequalities.  Despite currently living in New Jersey, she describes herself as a South Indian-Canadian.

Akanksha Arya

Rutgers-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School

Akanksha Arya is a second-year student at Rutgers- Robert Wood Johnson Medical School (RWJMS). She earned her bachelor’s degree in Cell Biology & Neuroscience at Rutgers University and completed a Certificate in Women’s Leadership at the Institute for Women’s Leadership. As an intern at the Center for Women’s Global Leadership, she worked with the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence campaign and attended the 2012 United Nations Commission on the Status of Women. She began gaining experience in global health through volunteering with the local NGO Doctors for Seva (service) in Bangalore, India, and A Promise to Peru medical mission in the Sacred Valley of Peru.

After completing her first year of medical school, Akanksha pursued her interest in public health as a Public Health Associate at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). During this two year fellowship program, she was placed with the New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH) Western Regional Office in Rochester, NY, where she worked with environmental health and maternal and child nutrition programs. During the state emergency Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) response, she worked with the NYSDOH passenger screening system at JFK International Airport. Through the CDC, she was deployed to the EVD response in Sierra Leone as a junior epidemiologist. There, she worked with the epidemiology and surveillance team in Kambia district to track disease transmission, quarantine and monitor high-risk contacts, and strengthen local disease surveillance.

At RWJMS, Akanksha continues to develop her interest in global health and women’s issues through her involvement with RWJMS chapters of AMWA and AMSA. At the inaugural RWJMS MEDTalks, she presented a short-form talk about women’s leadership in medicine, entitled “Doctor, Where is She?” She is excited to continue learning about and developing her experience in global health through the AMWA Anne C. Carter Global Health Fellowship.

Helen Pu

Hofstra North Shore LIJ School of Medicine

Helen Pu is a third year medical student at Hofstra North Shore LIJ School of Medicine. She is originally from Queens, NY and attended Bowdoin College where she earned a B.A. in Neuroscience with a minor in English. After receiving her degree she joined the United States Peace Corps as a Community Health Educator. As part of the Peace Corps she lived for over two years in a Cambodian village and worked with local grassroots and government organizations. Upon returning to the United States, Helen worked as a development intern at Women for Afghan Women in order to learn the other side of running an international non-profit. She also taught after school classes for kindergarten students and a citizenship class for new immigrants during that year.

In medical school, Helen was inspired by the passion and drive of her fellow medical students and decided to work with them to lead the Global Health Club. Her interest in health policy also led to the founding of an AMSA chapter at Hofstra and she served as the first representative for the Health Policy Committee. She also has an interest in medical education and is a student representative on the Curriculum Committee as well as on the LCME Student Survey Committee.

In the future she hopes to find the time to travel the world and learn more about how best to help the underserved.

Kristi Ray

Nova Southeastern University College of Osteopathic Medicine

Kristi Ray is a native of Fort Lauderdale, Florida and earned her bachelor’s degree in Biology and Environmental Science at the University of Central Florida. Her love for global health started during her undergraduate career when she was awarded the Presidents Scholar Award that enabled the creation of a community garden on the Caribbean nation of St. Kitts and Nevis to increase the population’s education and access to nutritional options.

She is currently a third year Osteopathic Medicine and Masters of Public Health student at Nova Southeastern University College of Osteopathic Medicine. Her research interests involve creating sustainable global health initiatives in developing countries through the use of urban agriculture and community farming. She has participated in medical mission trips to Nicaragua, Guatemala, and Jamaica and has worked with Indonesia Ministry of Health to create sustainable agriculture projects in the form of community gardens to teach rural communities about health and nutrition and provide a cost-effective way to provide access to nutritious foods.

Outside of global health, Kristi is a NSU Quality of Life Researcher where she works with Special Olympics of Broward County implementing nutrition education programs. She was also selected as a Paul Ambrose Scholar for 2015 where she created the program HEALTHFUL: Helping Establish Academic Learning Through Health Fairs in Underserved Locations that provides medical screening and prevention to South Florida communities.

Rachel McDiehl (McCandliss)

Emory University School of Medicine

Rachel McDiehl (McCandliss) is a Woodruff Fellow in her 3rd year at Emory University School of Medicine. Originally from Baltimore, MD, she graduated from Occidental College in 2011 with a BA in Diplomacy and World Affairs, concentrating in in Global Health Policy. During undergrad, she researched HIV treatment policies in South Africa and interned with the United Nations Populations Fund at their headquarters in New York City. After witnessing global health policy implementation first hand, Rachel decided she wanted to have a more hands-on impact on health in developing countries, and enrolled in the post-baccalaureate premed program at Johns Hopkins. Following post-bac, she worked as the patient care coordinator at Shepherd’s Clinic for the uninsured in Baltimore, helping to improve access to healthcare in the community in which she grew up.

During her first year of medical school, Rachel was a coordinator of the student-run Harriet Tubman Women’s Clinic at the Open Door Community, which provides free women’s health service to homeless and low-income women in Atlanta. She has remained on as an advisor – helping the current coordinators with program development and running workshops to prepare the incoming medical students for volunteering in the clinic.

In Fall of 2016, Rachel will begin her MPH degree at Rollins School of Public Health, with a concentration in Epidemiology. She remains undecided about her future medical specialty, though is considering OB/GYN and Med-Psych. In the future, she hopes to intertwine her love of clinical medicine with her fascination of public health to improve the health of communities, both in the US and abroad.

Ginger Holton

University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences

Ginger Holton grew up in Murfreesboro, TN but has many places she calls home. With a B.A. from Harding University in Arkansas, an M.A. from Wheaton College in Illinois, and an M.P.H. from the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, her studies have taken her all over!

Medicine is a second career for Ginger who spent 8 years in rural Mozambique at a non-profit organization. There, she lived in a village working with women’s community health groups creating curriculum and teaching about sanitation, sexually transmitted infections, and nutrition. Her work and experiences in Mozambique gave her an interest in clinical medicine, so she decided to return to the U.S. for medical school. She is currently a second year student at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences.

At UAMS, Ginger is an active member of her local AMWA chapter and serves as the Deputy Executive Director of 12th St. Health and Wellness Center, a student-run free clinic that serves an inner-city population in Little Rock. She is passionate about integrative medicine, women’s health, and nutrition. She hopes to have the opportunity to return to Africa when she completes her training.

Jessica Himmelstein

University of South Carolina School of Medicine

Jessica Himmelstein is a third year medical student at the University of South Carolina School of Medicine Greenville. She was born in Costa Rica and came to live in the United States at the age of five growing up mostly in South Carolina. At Wofford College she earned a B.S. in Biology and B.A. in Spanish with a concentration in Latin American and Caribbean Studies. Prior to medical school she worked for two years Access Health Spartanburg (AHS) to coordinate care for uninsured residents of Spartanburg County through a network of donated medical and social services. During those two years she also held a part time job with Spartanburg Alcohol and Drug Abuse Commission (SADAC) where she served as a bilingual instructor for the PRIME for Life course that is mandatory for DUI offenders.

In her first two years of medical school she helped to establish our Spanish Club by serving as the Community Service Chair. In that role she was able to get medical student involved in local health fairs for the Latino community. She also helped establish our local Student National Medical Association (SNMA) Chapter. As current co-president of the organization she has helped lead educational sessions for high schools students through the Greenville Health System Health Careers Club. Her hope is that through these organizations we leave a legacy of medical student who are invested in the needs of the community in which they get to study and live.

Though she is still undecided as to her future medical specialty, she knows it will always involve working to resolve health disparities locally and globally. She knows she wants to work with her local Hispanic community but also sees herself working in Costa Rica and other Latin America countries with local organizations to improve the health of those communities through mutual collaboration.

Rita Kuwahara

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine

Rita Kuwahara, MIH, is a Howard Holderness Distinguished Medical Scholar at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine, completing a year-long research fellowship between her third and fourth years of medical school. She currently serves as the National Global Health Chair for the American Medical Student Association (AMSA), and is the incoming National Vice President for Leadership Development at AMSA. She has been an active leader at UNC, serving as co-director of the Student Health Action Coalition (SHAC), UNC’s student-run free clinic, for two years, and co-president of UNC’s medical student research society. She is also working to start a chapter of Health Care for All North Carolina at UNC, and was recently named a North Carolina Albert Schweitzer Fellow for her work on developing an Interprofessional “Hot Spotting” Project to reduce rehospitalizations at UNC and Duke through a grant from the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC), Camden Coalition of Healthcare Providers, and Primary Care Progress.

Prior to medical school, Rita completed her Master’s degree in International Health at the University of Copenhagen, and her Bachelor’s degree in Chemistry and Peace and Justice Studies with a concentration in the inequities in the healthcare system in the U.S. and abroad at Wellesley College. Her research interests include global cardiovascular diseases, international medical education and health systems strengthening, structural factors contributing to high rates of rehospitalization in the U.S., and issues of access to care and health policy in the U.S. and abroad. She has spent time in India, Ghana, Uganda, Moldova, South Africa, Ecuador, Kenya, Denmark, Norway, and the United Kingdom completing public health related research, coursework, and clinical rotations. In her free time, she loves to travel and spend time with her dog, who she trained to be a certified therapy dog.

Theresa Cheng

Mayo Medical School

Theresa Cheng is a native of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina and earned her bachelor’s degree in Cognitive Neuroscience at Harvard University. After college, she worked with Partners In Health/Socios En Salud in Lima, Peru as study quality control assessment coordinator for NIH-funded research on the transmission rates of multi-drug resistant tuberculosis. She then went on to attend Mayo Medical School in Rochester, MN.

Her clinical experiences during her first and second year in medical school inspired her to pursue a legal education at University of California, Berkeley School of Law in order to develop the legal skills and knowledge necessary to better individual and community health through law and policy, at home and abroad. During law school, she initiated and led a policy-advocacy project to persuade state policymakers of the value of investment in California’s marginalized poor through increased accessibility to government safety net and work support programs via the Affordable Care Act insurance exchanges. In the courtroom, she also assisted numerous clients, many of whom are homeless offenders, navigate the bureaucratic red tape of public benefits appeals and hearings. Her externship with amfAR and UNAIDS as the coordinator of a new campaign to strengthen the sexual and reproductive health rights of women living with HIV/AIDS in Southeast Asia led to the opportunity to testify before the Thailand Senate Commission of Women’s Affairs. She graduated with her JD and a specialization in International Law in 2014.

As a current third year Mayo medical student, Theresa ultimately hopes to meld newly-developing clinical skills with legal knowledge to coordinate effective human rights-based interventions addressing the urgent need of more equitable and accessible healthcare systems in this country and others.

Chelsea Williams

Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University

Chelsea Williams is a third year medical student in the MD/MPH program at Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University. She graduated from Emory University with a Bachelor of Science in Neuroscience Behavioral Biology and a Bachelor of Arts in Chemistry. Chelsea has participated in global health service and research projects in Uganda, sub-Sahara Africa, and Central Asia. As a future global and public health provider, Chelsea plans to engage in ethical and productive global research and provide humanitarian relief.

Martha (Koenig) Holstein

Sanford School of Medicine at the University of South Dakota

Martha (Koenig) Holstein is a second year medical student at Sanford School of Medicine at the University of South Dakota in Vermillion, SD.  Originally from a farm outside of Fairfax, SD, Martha received her B.S. degree in Biology from South Dakota State University.  She experienced global health care, education and culture in Western Africa during a travel course at SDSU.  Martha organized a drive and worked with classmates and people in her hometown to bring school supplies to the Gambigo Primary School in Ghana.  She became a patient in Ghana after a motor vehicle accident and gained a new perspective on healthcare both at home and abroad.  Between university and medical school, she studied Type 1 Diabetes in the Sanford Project as a research assistant and lab manager.

She is helping establish her medical school’s first Pediatric Interest Group and is involved in her local AMWA chapter.  She is currently interested in primary care with an interest in decreasing the health disparities among populations in her home state and around the world.  Martha enjoys spending time with her husband and chasing down her energetic toddler.  She is a self-described foodie who enjoys cooking and cake decorating.  She enjoys fly fishing, traveling and being outdoors

Chelsea Williams is a third year MD/MPH student at Feinberg School of Medicine of Northwestern University who is interested in pursuing a career focused on under resourced areas abroad. She obtained a B.S. in neuroscience behavioral biology and chemistry from Emory in 2011. Since then she has explored many health problems abroad particularly the cultural and developmental impacts on diabetes in Morocco and community needs of rural Uganda. Currently she is actively involved in student government as one of the senators of her class, leader of the Northwestern University Chicago Interschool Committee, and co-founder of Unite for Uganda. She ultimately hopes to use her dual degree and global health experience to expand superior medical care to disadvantaged populations through public health programs focused on local empowerment.

Nerlyne Desravines

Duke University School of Medicine

Nerlyne Desravines is a native of Fort Lauderdale, Florida who grew up with a loving family that always pushed her to achieve her best. She is a graduate of the International Baccalaureate Program from Boyd Anderson High School. She became a lifetime Bull as a student of University of South Florida. She then went on to attend Duke University School of Medicine where she is a third year student. She is currently earning a Masters in Clinical Research and conducting research on the immune system of Obstetrics patients. She aspires to be an Obstetrician/Gynecologist but also wants to focus part of her work in Global Health; particularly in women’s health in resource poor countries. She is particularly looking forward to working with the Duke Global Health Institute during her time as an Anne Carter Fellow.

Nerlyne currently serves as the Vice-President for the Duke AMWA chapter. She also serves as the Vice-President of Student Activities for the medical school student government and the Black Graduate and Professional Student Association. She is a staunch believer in community service and mentoring and hopes to be able to give more back to her community.

She enjoys Blue Devil Basketball, writing, ballet and baking.  When she is not in the classroom, clinic or lab, Nerlyne is often found trying something new.  Recently, she completed her first half marathon.  The most precious thing in her life currently is her 3-month old niece whom she loves to spoil.

Stephany Gabaud

Drexel University College of Medicine

Stephany Gabaud earned her bachelor’s degree in Biomedical Sciences and a minor in Public Health at the University of South Florida. She currently attends Drexel University College of Medicine where she is a third year medical student. During the past few years, Stephany has lived, studied and volunteered in her community here in the United States and her native country of Haiti. Experiencing the contrasting level of healthcare in both countries fueled her passion for global health.

During her tenure as the co-president of the AMWA chapter at Drexel, she developed a community service project in which AMWA members collaborated with the Eliza Shirley House (women’s shelter) to educate women about breast cancer. Stephany is passionate about increasing access to healthcare for women and children worldwide and hopes to continue to do so as an Anne C. Carter fellow.

Anastasia Coutinho

University of Vermont College of Medicine

Anastasia Coutinho, MHS, is a fourth year medical student at University of Vermont College of Medicine who is interested in pursuing a career in family medicine combined with public health research, both in urban domestic settings and in international locales. As a medical student, Anastasia has been involved in co-developing a medical orientation to the US healthcare system for incoming refugees to the Burlington, VT population. This project grew into the development of a student-faculty collaborative clinic for refugee populations, which focuses on providing disease-focused education, screenings for chronic disease, and preventative care. The clinic emphasizes interdisciplinary collaboration, where students from the disciplines of medicine, nursing, social work, dietetics, and psychology work together to care for patients and educate peers about their respective health-related disciplines. Anastasia has also conducted research in Baltimore City, Maryland in youth nutrition programming, in Bangladesh regarding pregnancy careseeking for malaria, and in Uganda focusing on the community effects of ultrasound screenings in pregnancy.

Anna Handley

University of South Carolina School of Medicine

Anna Handley, MPH, is a third-year medical student at the University of South Carolina School of Medicine. Anna graduated with a B.A. in anthropology from the University of South Carolina in 2008, where she was a Magellan Research Scholar studying the availability and quality of medical interpretation for Hispanics in South Carolina. She received an MPH in global health from Emory University in 2011. At Emory, Anna worked with the Maternal and Newborn Health in Ethiopia Partnership, conducting research on the health practices surrounding home birth in rural Ethiopia. Currently, Anna is the co-president of her local AMWA chapter, where she spearheaded the Cervix Project, pairing medical students with over 1,000 undergraduate women to discuss cervical cancer prevention through vaccination against human papillomavirus. Anna’s passion is women’s health, and she hopes to use her public health background to make reproductive health services more accessible for women, both domestically and abroad. In her free time, Anna loves photography and playing basketball.

Oluwantoni (Toni) Aluko

Meharry Medical College

Oluwatoni (Toni) Aluko, MPH, is second year medical student at Meharry Medical College in Nashville, Tennessee. Originally a native of the quaint state of Maryland, Toni earned her BS in Kinesiological Sciences, with minors in Spanish and Community Health, and her MPH in Community Health Education from the University of Maryland, College Park. When she isn’t perusing through textbooks, Toni enjoys traveling, cooking, sewing, and working out.

Toni currently serves as an AMWA National Global Health Chair, her class Community Service Chair,  and as a class liaison to the Family Medicine Interest Group. She also volunteers at Meharry’s free student-run clinic, 12 South Clinic. Toni is excited about the opportunity to serve AMWA as a Global Health Chair, and bridge her passion for service with her interest in global health. She ultimately hopes to inspire more medical students, particularly those traditionally underrepresented in medicine, to engage in global health service and leadership experiences.

Brigitte Frett

University of Miami Miller School of Medicine

Brigitte Frett is a second-year student at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine and a member of their inaugural four-year MD/MPH class.  She was born and raised in Evanston, Illinois and attended Middlebury College in Vermont.  After graduation, she worked as a nurse assistant and volunteer at CommunityHealth, Illinois’ largest free clinic for uninsured and medically underserved patients.  In 2009 Brigitte began a two-year Masters program in Social Work at the University of Chicago.  For her first-year clinical experience she worked as a case manager for individuals experiencing homelessness and living with mental illness and spent her second year interning at the Chicago office of the Department of Health and Human Services.  Brigitte focused her graduate coursework on health policy and administration and received university funding to pursue a project documenting the availability of free and reduced-price Pap tests for women in Chicago.  Brigitte plans to spend her medical career at the intersection of health policy/advocacy and direct patient care.  She intends to advance local and global health policies grounded in the principles of social justice and equitable resource allocation with a special emphasis on women’s health issues.

Dyani Loo

University of Miami Miller School of Medicine

Dyani Loo, a native of southern California, is currently part of the 2013 class at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine.  She has a strong interest in promoting access and quality of mental health services, stigma reduction, and comprehensive psychosocial care.  Prior to entering medical school, she worked as a patient advocate with adults with schizophrenia and as a crisis and social services call operator.  Her interest in understanding global mental health issues, the impact of disease on underserved populations and cultural attitudes toward psychiatric disorders and their treatment took her to a small rural village in the Amazon jungle of Peru where she was able to survey community attitudes toward mental health care and work in the local schools and clinics.  In her free time, she loves hiking, painting and spending time at the beach with her dog Finnegan.

Olivia Chang

Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center

Olivia Chang is a PGY-1 in Obstetrics & Gynecology at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center/Harvard Medical School. She grew up in her native Taiwan and moved to Vancouver at the age of 12. Many of her fond childhood memories involved traveling around with her adventurous family. The exposure to various cultures and lyrical words started her zealous pursuit of learning languages. During this time, she also noted the disparity between the various countries that affected the holistic wellness of its people.  Fascinated, Olivia studied Humanistic Studies and Biological Sciences while at McGill University in Montreal, QC. She was able to simultaneously pursue her academic interests in a multi-cultural city.

Soon after graduation, Olivia relocated to New York City to work for the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) as a liaison assistant, while studying for her MPH in the evenings.  During this time, she explored the world of international policy-making and affirmed her dedication to better international health.  In May of 2009, Olivia, along with three other medical students, traveled to Tanzania to begin three service projects that included: training traditional birth attendants with clean birthing kits, malaria prevalence assessment and HIV peer education training.

The following year, Olivia went to Argentina as a fellow selected by the Minority Health International Training Program (MHIRT) of the National Institute of Health (NIH) to assess the rising rates of C-sections in Latin America. She investigated the motivations and health literacy levels of pregnant women across the public and private sectors.

Since starting at Tulane University School of Medicine, Olivia has worked with various school groups to provide healthcare services to the post-Katrina population in New Orleans, Louisiana. Her plan is to continue to enrich her global health experiences to become a better physician and clinical researcher.

Savitha Bonthala

Touro University California

Savitha Bonthala received her D.O., M.P.H. (global health) from Touro University California and will be starting her residency in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at Baylor College of Medicine. Her interests in medicine include osteopathic manipulative medicine, handicapped populations, and global health. She is fascinated with the mind, body, spirit connection and hopes to expand holistic approaches to global health care, especially for the disabled. Her global health experience includes serving as global health chair for the medical student division of AMWA and an original member of the Anne C. Carter Global Health Fellowship. She has traveled to both  Bolivia and Engeye Health Clinic in Uganda to work on projects to reduce the morbidity and mortality associated with malaria.

1. What are the time commitments of the fellowship?
   Time commitments vary depending on the intensity of the project selected by each fellow. In addition to project planning and implementation, fellows are expected to engage in monthly readings and attend committee conference calls, which generally last one hour each month.
2. What kind of work do the fellows do?
   Carter fellows share a passion for global health and can be found chairing national global health AMWA committees, performing medical services, and conducting research around the world. There is no limit to what fellows can do, and as such, fellows are encouraged to seek out global health activities both locally and abroad.

Email questions and comments to [email protected]